Uniter of What?
by AlethiaNyx
Summary: Set approximately two months after the season finale and Brian's death. Chloe feels alone and scared, she has lost one more life since the night Brian died and has been having nightmares every night since as well. The night that Brian died Valentina died as well, leaving Jasmine - who survived - in charge, and Zane has vanished.
1. Chapter 1

_So this is the first fanfic I've actually liked and finished enough to post. Please read and review, I love what ever feedback you can give me. If you spot any grammatical errors or sentences where the words seem out of order or something, let me know so I can fix them up. Sometimes my editing can get a bit sloppy when I get tired._

_ I haven't actually read the books but when I heard how they went I was kind of disappointed so I got inspired to do my own thing. I don't know if how much I'll get written but I thought I'd give it a shot at actually writing down the ideas that I already have._

_As the stories go I will add more characters that I come up with._

__ This story is set a bit less than two months after the season finale of Nine Lives.__

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><p>Brian lay sprawled on the theatre staircase. His eyes closed and his hands covered in blood, not his but Chloe's. Chloe sat there with Brian's head cradled in her lap, tears running down her face. The shirt she's wearing is covered in her blood and has several holes in it but already there is barely a mark on her. One of Chloe's hands rested lightly on Brian's chest, but it is enough – with her Mai senses – to feel Brian's weak thready heartbeat. As she sat there holding him and crying she felt his heart sputter and then stop.<p>

"No... no, Brian! Wake up, please, please don't die! This is my fault, all of this is my fault, please don't be dead." Sitting there on the steps Chloe continued to cry hugging Brian to her.

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><p>Next thing Chloe knew she was running down an alley way at night, she didn't know where she was and was confused – how did she get here? She had barely a moment to dwell on this; there were heavy footfalls following her. As Chloe ran she glanced briefly behind her, there were three people chasing after her, she felt exhausted, it was like she has been running for miles and she was starting to lose speed.<p>

Where was Alek? Why wasn't he here? He should be here, he's always somewhere nearby. Why wasn't he here now? Chloe tripped over something on the ground and one of the men who had nearly caught up to her lunged at her. Chloe kicked out at him with all her strength, making contact, but what with she wasn't sure. She scrambled to her feet and sprinted onward, making a dash for the main road ahead of her. _If only I can get to the main road surely there will be cars or people around_ Chloe thinks, _they won't chase me in a public place with witnesses._

Making a last gasping sprint Chloe broke out onto the street, racing out to the middle of the road. Chloe registered only for a moment that the street was empty of people _oh no_, _it's later than I thought, there's no one out at this time._ All of a sudden there was a flash of headlights and Chloe spun around just as the car slammed into her and sent her flying across the road. Lying sprawled on the road in agony Chloe was aware of someone approaching her, but the car that hit her had gone, speeding away into the night. Chloe knew she had broken bones and was bleeding badly, but she just couldn't work out where her injuries were, it was like there was a cloud in her head and she just couldn't focus.

Into Chloe's vision swam a face, female, sharp and with short red hair. It was Simone. "Three down, six to go then" she said to Chloe, moments before Chloe blacked out completely.

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><p>Chloe sat suddenly upright. She knew exactly where she is. She's at home in bed. Having the same nightmare she's has every night since Brian died nearly two months ago, and the same one she's had every night since she lost her third life just over two weeks ago.<p>

Leaning forward she rests her head on her knees and begins to cry. Sobbing her heart out as she does every night when she wakes up. You'd think having the same dream over and over again you'd get used to it, but every night she relives those two nights in her dreams is just as horrible as the night before for Chloe.

Swinging her legs over the side of her bed Chloe continued to sit there and cry with her head in her hands, as she does every other night. Chloe has no control over it, the tears come thick and fast as she tries not to hyperventilate and tries not to cry so loud her mother hears. Then she pauses in her sobs, the tears are still running down her face though, she suddenly whispers one word "Alek."

Chloe knows he's out there sitting on her roof, or up the big tree by the house. He's up there nearly every night watching out for her. Tonight is no exception, because she knows Jasmine was busy having a meeting with other Mai leaders that had been in the city since the death of Valentina – Jasmine's mother and the leader of the San Francisco Mai. It was also too early in the night for the second shift of her protectors. Chloe knows with his Mai hearing that Alek can hear her crying every night.

Since Brian's death Alek had barely spoken to her though. He was there when she woke up in the street that night, leaning over her, white as a sheet, fear for her written over his face, and a large nasty gash along the left side of his head stopping just below his eye. But after helping her home he'd gone back to his ghost state of the weeks preceding that. When she saw him at school he was always disappearing around a corner, or into a classroom. He was still up there every night on the roof, she knew that, she could sense him, but whenever Chloe went up to the roof he disappeared, so she'd given up going out there. Instead she sat on her bed crying, knowing he heard her cry and him knowing she knew he was there. Chloe was so tired of feeling alone though, she missed her friend, and she missed Brian, and she was so tired of always being scared. So tonight she whispered his name and hoped he'd come. She just needed someone.

Looking up as she heard a rustle there he was, balanced lightly on her window sill. She stood up from the bed as Alek climbed into the room. He didn't say anything, and neither did she. They didn't need to say anything; they could each read the look on the other's face perfectly. _Please... I need you _said the look on Chloe's face and Alek's read _I'm sorry, I wish I could make it better, but I don't want to make it worse._

They each took a step towards each other quickly covering the short distance between them. Alek pulled Chloe towards him, wrapping his arms tightly around her and she leant into him resting her head on his chest. "It's ok," he whispers "you're not alone, you're never alone", Chloe began to cry into his chest and he held her tighter, resting his cheek gently on her hair. They stand like this for some time, Chloe feeling safe and comforted with Alek's strong arms hugging her tightly, she continued to cry softly. Alek continued to whisper comforts into her hair "I'm sorry... It'll be ok... You're safe... I'm here..."

Eventually Chloe gently pushes herself away from Alek, his arms falling loosely to his sides as Chloe wipes the tears from her face. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have... You shouldn't be in here... I'm fine" Chloe whispers in between hiccups, everything is in whispers, if Chloe's mother woke up and found them she'd be in deep, deep trouble.

"I know you aren't fine Chloe, it'd be stranger if you were fine considering everything."

"Then why are you never there, or here, or anywhere?"

"I'm always here Chloe, I'm always protecting you." Alek sounds hurt and troubled by the insinuation that he isn't doing his job properly, Chloe could hear it plainly in his voice but she didn't care, she felt hurt to.

"But you never show yourself, you won't talk to me or look at me." She pauses looking at him in the darkness, he still isn't meeting her eye even now "You're supposed to be my friend."

"I'm sorry... I just... I don't know," Alek stumbles over his words at a loss for what to say, "I thought you'd want space, I thought me being around would just make it worse. I know I usually seem so cocky and sure of myself, but when it comes to you, Chloe King, I never seem to be able to say or do the right thing."

Sighing to himself, Alek turned around and flopped lightly onto the edge of Chloe's bed. Looking up at Chloe he gently patted the space beside him and Chloe perched herself next to him. The two of them sit there silently Alek with his hands braced on either side of him as if he is about to get up, Chloe with her hands clutched together in her lap.

After taking a deep breath Alek started to speak, "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you that night." They both know what night he meant.

"But you were there..." Upon waking Chloe had remembered the rest of what had happened and why Alek hadn't been there...

"But not when I should have been, I should have been there the whole time, that fight shouldn't have ended the way it did and I'm sorry," Alek said interrupting her, "it's just, I saw you with the flowers going in to the cemetery and I thought you might want some privacy, so I left. I was only gone a few minutes, when I got back all hell had already broken loose. I saw you fighting off those three guys... and honestly it's all kind of fuzzy after that."

"Jasmine said you got a pretty bad concussion," Chloe told him gently brushing her fingers along the faint scar that was still visible on the side of his face. "After you got there and took their attention away from me you told me to run, so I did, I ran like hell, I thought you'd follow. When I eventually looked around you were gone and it was just them chasing me."

"And I'm so sorry for that Chloe."

"It wasn't your fault." Chloe sighed, "Sometimes I think it might just be easier to hand myself over to them, let them take all my lives at once and get it over with. I'm so tired of running, always looking over my shoulder. I don't want to be the mouse in this never ending game of cat and mouse anymore."

"Chloe you can't think like that. You should never think that. You are the uniter." Alek took her hand squeezing it in his.

"But what does that even mean? How am I supposed to unite people who want to kill each other and me, and won't listen to reason?"

"We'll figure out what you're meant to do, but handing yourself over to them definitely isn't the answer, if they kill you it'll only open the gate for them to hunt down the rest of us. Without you the other Mai will lose hope, they won't want to fight anymore, and it'll just end in a slaughter."

"People keep getting hurt because of me and for me and I want it to stop. Paul and Amy, Jasmine, Brian, Valentina and you," Chloe whispering the last quieter tears in her eyes again as she touched his scar again. "If they have me they'll have what they want."

"No they won't, they'll only have part of what they want, and it won't stop with you." Alek gently brushed the tears from her face. "You say you don't want to lose the people you care about or for them to get hurt, but think about it from our point of view."

"Our...?"

"Like I said, I'm sorry I haven't been here for you, but I still care about you Chloe."

"I've missed you. Can things try to go back to at least a little bit more like normal for us between us?"

"Of course." Putting his hand on her shoulder and pushing himself off the bed Alek said "You should try to get back to sleep, you look tired, you always look tired these days, you need it."

"Wait," Chloe said, putting her hand over Alek's to stop him removing it from her shoulder. "Please don't leave just yet."

"Fine," Alek sighed, suddenly Chloe noticed he looked exhausted. "You should still try to get back to sleep though," he said pulling back the doona. Chloe suddenly realising how exhausted she herself was obligingly crawled over the doona and flopped into bed. After pulling the covers over her Alek sat back down on the side of the bed. After a minute of sitting in silence Chloe took Alek's hand and gave it a squeeze, as she was about to take it back he stopped her, taking her hand in both of his he just sat the staring down at it. Eventually letting her hand go, he took off his shoes and flopped himself down beside Chloe.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Shhhh..." Alek whispered putting his arm around Chloe and pulling her into his chest. Chloe looked up at him through the hair that was now falling in her eyes, he looked tired and sad, and as he looked down at her she saw in his dark eyes that glint of what looked like protectiveness that she'd noticed in his eyes before. "Try to go to sleep," he said, brushing the hair out of her face. Chloe put her head back down on his chest and wrapped her arm around him. At this action he tensed for a moment, as if he hadn't expected it but then he relaxed, holding her close he planted a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

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><p>Sunlight streamed through the open window along with a cool breeze. It took Chloe a minute to remember where she was and a minute longer to register that Alek's arms were still around her. Looking up she could see he was sound asleep, he looked peaceful, the worry and sorrow that had painted his face the night before wiped clean. Chloe lay back down, she was about to doze off again when a noise caught her attention. It was her mum downstairs in the kitchen. <em>Oh crap <em>Chloe thought, _crap, crap, crap, I've got to get him out of here, if mum finds him I'm dead_.

"Alek... Alek, wake up," Chloe hissed, shaking him lightly.

Waking up suddenly he just about fell off Chloe's bed. "Wha... What happen?"

"You fell asleep," Chloe told him finding it hard not to laugh at his dishevelled and confused state.

"Oh, crap, I'm going to be in deep shit when Jasmine finds out."

"Shhh, she won't, I'm not going to say anything to her. Are you? You just have to be quiet, my mum's awake!" At that he looked mortified. For all his joking in the past Chloe knew he understood the trouble they'd be in if he was found in her bedroom at this hour. "You need to go" she told him handing him his shoes. He put them on quickly and headed for the window.

Just as he was about to climb out Chloe stopped him, grabbing his arm she asked "We're ok now, aren't we?"

"I'll see you at school" Alek responded giving her hand a squeeze and flashing her a smile before disappearing out the window.


	2. Chapter 2

Increasingly of late Chloe had been thinking how silly and almost pointless going to school seemed. Even in light of everything that had happened in the past few months she had missed very few days of school. She couldn't help herself two or three times and feigned a headache because she just didn't feel like going to school. She had also missed school for the funeral for Brain and the funeral for Valentina. Other than that she had shown up at school every day and sat through the monotony of English, Math, History, Science and all the rest. It was almost surreal spending her days sitting in a classroom like any other teenager and spending her nights training her skills a member of a species of cat people descendant from the Egyptian goddess Bastet, while trying not to get killed by the group of assassins who had it out for her.

She supposed she did it for her mother. Amazingly even after everything so far her mother still didn't know she was Mai. Coming to school just kept up the ruse that everything was relatively normal. Meredith knew something was going on with Chloe she just thought it was something to do with her father, everything with Brian and maybe a desire to know something about her birth parents and where she had come from that was causing Chloe to act out a bit.

This morning seemed to be one of the more particularly ironic mornings. Chloe was in English sitting staring at her open copy of Romeo and Juliet. They had nearly finished studying it; they had been working their way through it for a couple of weeks now. Today they were reading the final scene. Chloe had been deliberately not reading ahead of what they read in class – despite the fact they were supposed to have read it on they own at home. She already knew the story, as did everyone and she found the similarity between the story of Romeo and Juliet and her own tragedy with Brian somewhat disturbing.

The class dragged on with the part of Juliet being read by a pretty Asian girl in the front row called Melissa and Romeo read by the class emo kid sitting in the back, Justin. Looking at the two of them Chloe thought how unlike the parts they read these two were. Melissa was smart, a straight A student and the sort of girl who was nice to everyone. Justin was that sulky boy with the divorced parents who'd decided to use that as an excuse to hate the world, who was apparently surprisingly good at playing the piano. They never ran in the same circles, they would rarely have spoken to each other at all and their lives would never resemble this story. Whereas Romeo and Juliet had been so very much alike, wealthy, attractive, shallow and flirtatious and although their families had been enemies they both lived relatively similar lives.

So how then had Chloe's life ended up this way? Brian had just been another cute boy to walk into her work. How did their story end so similarly? Was she as shallow and selfish as Juliet? Chloe did know the answers to those questions if she really thought about it, although she couldn't honestly say that some those answers really made sense in a normal world. But her world had become anything but normal.

Absentmindedly Chloe turned the page, half listening to Melissa reading and half off in a daydream. The teacher suddenly interrupted Melissa "Sorry Melissa, I want everyone to take a look at the illustration while Melissa and Justin keep reading out. Take a good look at all the illustrations and let them help you understand the story better if you are struggling with the language. I want you to use them to help you follow it when you reread it in preparation to write your essay's this weekend."

Until this point Chloe hadn't looked down since she turned the page. When she did she saw the image of a fair haired Juliet crying over the body of a dark hair Romeo. Memories of the night in the theatre in the park hit her like a ton of bricks. The image made her feel sick to her stomach.

Shoving back her chair and just about tripping in her haste to escape that picture and her memories Chloe bolted for the door of the classroom, mumbling that she felt sick as she hurried past the stunned teacher and a worried looking Jasmine who was also in the class. Once out of the classroom she sprinted around the corner to the nearest bathrooms. Locking herself in one of the stalls she promptly threw up, repeatedly. After a couple of minutes, when there was nothing left in her stomach to throw up her stomach muscles ceased to heave and she slid down the stall wall and sat on the floor shaking and trying not to cry.

Moments later the bell for the end of first period rang. Chloe could hear the rush of students in the hallway but she didn't move. The door to the bathrooms opened. "Chloe, are you in here?" a voice called, it was Jasmine. Chloe said nothing. There was a soft knocking at the stall door, "Chloe is that you? Or if it's someone else could you say something so I can look for Chloe elsewhere."

"It's me." Chloe's voice sounded shaky and hoarse.

"Are you ok? You rushed out of class pretty quickly... And I could hear you in hear. Was it that picture?" Again Chloe didn't respond she didn't know what to say. "Are you going to come out or just stay in there the rest of the day?" Again silence. "Please open the door Chloe, talk to me, I want to help."

From where she was sitting Chloe reached up and unlocked the door letting it swing open with its own power. "What do you want me to say?" Chloe croaked "You know the answers to those questions. No I'm not ok. Yes the picture reminded me of Brian and I haven't decided whether I'm going to come out or not."

Crouching down to Chloe's level Jasmine put a hand Chloe's knee and sighed, "come on, it can't be sanitary sitting down there." Jasmine stood up and offered Chloe her hand. Accepting it Chloe got up and went and splashed water on her face. Looking up she caught her reflection in the mirror, she had to admit she didn't look too good; she had dark circles under her eyes, her face looked slightly thinner and her hair looked messier than it used to.

As she turned around she was surprised when Jasmine threw her arms around her in hug. She was surprised, but pleased as she hugged Jasmine tightly back. "It'll get better eventually," Jasmine told her "and now Markus is here from the L.A. pride to help me it'll be easier to keep you protected. I didn't exactly expect to have to take charge so soon." Sorrow laced Jasmines voice as she said this.

Chloe had met Markus Rudenko last week. He was a thirty something year old Mai from the Las Angeles pride and their second in charge. He had come to San Francisco to help out Jasmine since her mother hadn't finished training her how to lead the pride before she died. The plan was for him to stay till Jasmine was eighteen or until she was ready to take over things on her own. He was now officially Jasmine and Alek's legal guardian, posing as some cousin of Valentina and next week he was also supposed to be starting as the high school's new history teacher.

Draping her arm around Chloe's shoulder Jasmine said with a slight smirk turning up the corner of mouth "let's get to gym and show these kiddies how to run."

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><p>As they changed for gym Jasmine turned away from everyone in the room but Chloe. Jasmine still had a large scar across her abdomen from where Zane had stabbed her and although most of the girls in the class had seen it now Chloe knew Jasmine got sick of people gawking at her and whispering. The story was that it had been a home invasion gone wrong that had killed Valentina and nearly killed Jasmine and that the burglar still hadn't been caught. Parts of that story were true, Valentina's killer still hadn't been found. He wasn't just some random burglar though; he was Zane, the boy Jasmine had been seeing, who turned out to be a member of the Order and apparently Alek's brother. Although they had been having some trouble verifying that.<p>

Since her transformation gym had become Chloe's favourite class. She now had near perfect reflexes and if she tried she could outrun everyone in the class – including Jasmine – since she'd been training. Unfortunately she wasn't allowed to outrun everyone; it would arouse too much suspicion if a petit girl like her suddenly became the strongest and fastest person in class.

So Chloe had to content herself with staying firmly in the middle of the pack. Jasmine had said it was either that or find an excuse to drop the class in order to remove temptation.

Today it was volley ball. Not an uncommon activity. They played it almost weekly because it was relatively easy for Mr Barton, the sports teacher, to supervise. As Chloe and Jasmine came out of the locker rooms Paul came sideling up to them. It was the first time she'd seen him that day.

"Morning Chloe, Jasmine." He said nodding at them.

"How'd the date last night go?" Chloe asked him. It had taken a while for Paul to understand the idea of taking Amy on an actual date. The sort where he made a booking somewhere and he didn't wear sneakers and she wore a nice dress. He seemed to have gotten better at it recently and Amy was always super chatty about it the day before hand, so Chloe always knew what was going on.

"I don't know, I think it went ok. Could you ask Amy?" He sounded slightly nervous, as usual. "I'm not good at telling when it went ok or not."

"Well was she smiling when you said good night?"

"Yes."

"That's probably a good sign then." Chloe and Jasmine were both grinning by that point. "I'm sure I'll hear plenty about how it went when I see Amy at break."

The rest of the period passed in a blur. Chloe enjoyed every minute of ducking, dodging, catching and throwing the volley ball around the court. Exercise was the best distraction she had these days. Class seemed to end too soon for Chloe's liking; before she knew it Mr Barton was calling time and telling them to go and get changed.

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><p>Chloe leaned against her locker as she listened to Amy chatter animatedly about her date with Paul. They'd been to the new Italian place down the road from Chloe's work and from Amy's excited air Chloe could tell the date had gone well.<p>

Listening to Amy Chloe wasn't paying particular attention to what else was going on around her. It was school, which meant it was safe enough from everything but teenage drama. So when she felt a hand on her shoulder she momentarily stiffened in surprise. Then she smelt Alek's shampoo, it was just a faint scent of apples and rain but enough for her to identify him before she turned her head. He didn't stop as he walked past, he simply gave her shoulder a squeeze and flashed a smile at her that she returned and kept going.

Looking back to Amy she discovered Amy standing there slack jawed in stunned silence. "What was that?!" Amy exclaimed hastily rearranging her features "Did I miss something?"

"What was what?"

"That!"

"What?"

"You and Alek!" Amy sounded distinctly exasperated, "I've barely seen you two in the same room in the last couple of months, let alone looking at or acknowledging each other. I know he goes out of his way to avoid you at school, I've seen it. So what was that?!"

"He finally showed himself last night..." Amy raised an eyebrow in questioning but said nothing to this. "And we talked."

"So now you're back together?"

"No!" Chloe sounded sure and defiant for a moment, but she honestly wasn't exactly sure what last had night meant. "I don't know," she faltered, "I wouldn't say we were every really together in the first place."

"Oh don't try to give me that Chloe! Whether you were together long enough before to actually say you were together or not you definitely had something! And he was most definitely in love with you, and clearly still is!"

"I think for now I'd just take friends. I'm not sure more would ever work for us. But I don't want to go back to him completely ignoring me again."

"Huh! So you admit he was avoiding you before."

"I never denied it," Chloe said sadly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry this chapter has been a while coming, I wrote it a while ago but hadn't gotten around to doing a final proof read. This is just a short one, hopefully there will be some more coming soon. Please read and review. Any idea's, suggestions, or mistakes you want to point out are much appreciated. **

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><p><em>...Making a last gasping sprint Chloe breaks out onto the street, racing out to the middle of the road. She registers only for a moment that the street is unfortunately empty of people then all of a sudden there is a flash of headlights and Chloe spins around just as the car slams into her and sends her flying across the road. Lying sprawled on the road in agony Chloe is aware of someone approaching her, but the car that hit her has gone, speeding away into the night. Chloe knows she has broken bones and is bleeding badly, but she just can't work out where her injuries are, it's like there's a cloud in her head and she just can't focus. <em>

_Into Chloe's vision swims a face, female, sharp and with short red hair. It's Simone. "Three down, six to go then" she says to Chloe, moments before Chloe blacks out completely._

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><p>Chloe woke with a start. Despite the cold night air coming through her open window she was sweating and out of breath as if she really had been running for her life. Leaning forward to rest her head on her knees tears began to run down her face. She didn't cry aloud, she simply let the tears flow silently.<p>

After a moment Chloe heard a rustle at the window, but she didn't look up. Another moment later she felt a weight on the bed and a strong but gentle hand on her back. Chloe turned her head, still resting on her knees, to look up at Alek. His hair had a fine layer of mist sitting on it from the damp night air which made it shine like an aura in the faint glow from the street light outside.

She let a watery smile play across her lips as she looked up at him, in an effort to try to stop him looking too worried. It didn't work. Concern still laced his expression.

Chloe was completely unaware of how beautiful she looked to Alek just then. There was a sweet innocent beauty to her dishevelled state, and it played havoc with Alek's heart. Her teary smile, her flushed cheeks, her messy curls falling over her face and the way she looked up at him through her fair eyelashes did nothing to help his self control. But she loved Brain he reminded himself pulling his mind away from that path. That was why he had been so distant in past months, he thought _no matter how I care for her she loves Brian first_. He didn't want to upset her further by trying to push her in any way as he had before, and the best way to resist her was to keep his distance.

Last night she had called to him though and he couldn't resist. Just as now he couldn't resist reaching out a hand to carefully brush the curls away from her face. Resting his hand back on her back he asked "Are you feeling alright?" Cringing at the stupidness of the question he added "Sorry that was a stupid question. I know you're not."

"No, I'm sorry," Chloe said sitting up and wiping away her tears, Alek's hand falling away from her back, "I feel so stupid, you must think I'm so stupid when you hear me crying every night. Any normal person would've gotten over it by now. But I'm not normal anymore, I'm never going to get normal again! I wanted excitement and adventure and look at what I got." She rambled sounding thoroughly frustrated by the time she stopped speaking and proceeded to stare angrily at her hands, the claws on her left hand partially extended and picking at the hem of her pants.

"Why would you want to be normal when what you are is totally awesome?" Alek asked with a slight smirk on his face. He seemed to find her frustration slightly amusing. Draping his arm around Chloe and giving her a hug he added "And no one expects you to get over it quickly. They just expect you to not go out and do anything else dumb and put yourself in danger."

"Have you found anything about Zane yet?" Chloe asked, changing the topic.

"No, he's done a very good job at disappearing. We think the Order is helping him hide until they need him again. He'll definitely show his face again though. He wouldn't drop a bombshell like that and then vanish forever; he wanted to create as much trouble as possible. He's not going to be content to stay hidden, he's going to want to watch the chaos and possibly create more if he can."Alek responded, referring to Zane claiming to Alek's brother.

"Have you been able to find anything out about that yet? Jasmine hasn't really mentioned it."

"Nothing at all. His last name was definitely fake, his first name may have been fake, and we don't know enough about him to know where he came from. And we don't know enough about my family history to try to trace him through me."

"Why don't you ask your parents?"

Alek stiffened at this. Chloe didn't exactly know what his relationship with his parents was like because he never talked about them, she figured that meant it wasn't good. But surely he could talk to them for something this important.

"That's what Markus suggested. But surely they would've told me something as important as I have a brother, if they knew anything. And if they don't know anything what's the point in asking. I don't believe Zane anyway, it was probably just a tactic to distract me so he could escape and to cause a bit of extra trouble, but I think he'll show his face again to gloat about it."

Chloe shivered. It was actually kind of cold in her room with the window open and she was only wearing a singlet. "Could you pass my sweatshirt?" She asked.

Getting up Alek tossed her the shirt that was on the floor by her bed. Chloe was a little disappointed when he got up; she thought he might stay again. Instead of leaving though he went over to the window, closed it and returned to the bed. As Chloe leaned back against her pillows Alek followed suit, pulling the doona up over her as he did and as he had the previous night he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into him. Soon the two of them were sound asleep.

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><p>Alek woke just before dawn. Chloe was still sound asleep against him. He could feel her slow steady breathing. After carefully detangling himself from Chloe Alek leant down and stroked her hair gently to wake her. He felt bad for waking her but also didn't want to just vanish while she was sleeping, nor did he want to risk being caught by Meredith.<p>

Chloe slowly opened her eyes, which were heavy with sleep. "It's just before dawn, but I think I'd better go before your mum wakes up," he whispered, "I'll see you at school. Maybe we could do some training when you finish work today?"

"I'd like that." Chloe whispered back smiling. He got up to go, but Chloe grabbed his arm, "Wait." She said then threw her arms around his neck hugging him, he returned the hug wrapping his arms tightly around her for a minute before he let go and was out the window in a flash, only pausing briefly to smile back at Chloe.

Moments later Chloe was sound asleep again. All too soon after that her alarm told her loudly that it was time to get up for school.


	4. Chapter 4

**There are a couple of new names mentioned in this chapter that I will expand on at a later point. I didn't feel that it would fit to expand and properly explain them when they are mentioned here. I've decided that as I go I may incorporate some of the ideas/elements from the film script in my own way. If any readers have, at any point, suggestions for how the story might progress I'm happy to hear them, I'm always open to idea's as this story is only partly formed in my head and will probably change dramatically from my original idea before it ends.**

**I love any feedback and advice I can get, good or bad.**

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><p>The morning sunshine was warm on Chloe's face as she dozed; it was going to be a nice autumn day. Perfect for training in the afternoon, with sun to make it cheery and a slight breeze to keep it a little cooler. At that moment Chloe was ditching English, she couldn't handle another lesson on Romeo and Juliet. She was hiding on the roof of the school, lazing on an old table; one of the many pieces of old abandoned furniture that had been left out there forgotten. The roof was, of course, completely off limits to students, so it was the perfect place to for Chloe to take a break.<p>

Chloe hadn't gotten onto the roof the conventional way because it was locked. Instead of using the door she had climbed out a window on the top floor and up. If any teacher suspected she was ditching they would never think to look for her through a locked door.

It wasn't the first time Chloe had been up here. She'd discovered the roof door unlocked once on a day when she just needed a break from everybody and started coming up here then. One day about a month after she found the door unlocked she found it locked again. After a couple of days of thinking Chloe had decided to try going out a window and had been taking that route to the roof ever since.

Over the years the roof had become a dumping ground for pieces of furniture that were either broken or badly vandalised. The table Chloe was lying on was an old one from the cafeteria, it was in one piece but someone had carved obscenities all over the top of it. It was nice and long, the perfect place to stretch out for a nap without having to lie on the ground, and being right in the centre of the roof it meant no one was likely to see her from the ground, so it had become Chloe's favourite spot to relax.

Laying there it felt to Chloe like it was just her and the sky and there was no one else in the world. It was peaceful. Being up here and alone was somehow different to being alone in her room at night or being in a crowd of people and feeling utterly alone. She never had bad dreams when she napped here and the fresh air cleared her head.

At present Chloe was in that half state between sleeping and waking. That state where your body is asleep and immobile but your mind wanders between dreams and reality and the outside world bleeds into the dream making the dreamer unaware that they are even asleep. Until suddenly something wakes them and even then they are unsure if it was a dream or not. In Chloe's dream she was lying on the grass in the park enjoying the breeze off the bay, twirling a daisy between her fingers. It was so simple, so relaxing, so calming. But for some reason the ground seemed rather hard, and there wasn't any birdsong, just the faint hum of air-conditioners.

As she lay there her mind in the park, her body on the roof, her mind only partly registered the sound of approaching footsteps. All of a sudden the park vanished, her dream shattered by the shadow that had fallen across her face. Chloe woke with a start, leaping backwards off the table and away from the shadow. Using the table as a launch she swung herself around aiming a high kick at the head of the intruding shadow. A hand caught her ankle before it made contact though, catching her leg mid air and holding it a moment longer than Chloe could balance for. Just as she lost her balance the other hand of the pair caught her around the waist, keeping her upright.

All this happened in just a fraction of time and by the time Chloe had taken a breath and shaken her hair out of her eyes, in another fraction of time, she realised who the shadow was. Alek stood there smirking down at her still holding her foot by his head with one hand and her waist with the other. It was an incredibly uncomfortable way to stand.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you to look before you leap?" enquired Alek looking amused.

"Can I have my foot back?" Chloe almost snapped, her embarrassment and the slight drowsiness she still felt making her irritable.

He let her foot down but his hand still rested lightly on her waist. She was wearing a light, loose, blue and white striped t-shirt. Alek gripped lightly at the shirt almost as if to stop her leaving, but she didn't try to, she just looked slightly annoyed.

"Don't be like that," he said still smirking at her pouting, "Sorry I snuck up on you ok? But I didn't really sneak. You really should be careful about where you doze off you know?" A hint of concern entered his voice with this last sentence.

"It's the middle of the roof of the school, what do I need to be careful of up here? It's not exactly easy to get to. There are no other near enough rooftops, so anyone after me would have to come through the building, and they'd never get all the way up here without getting noticed by someone else first." As an afterthought Chloe added "Besides, Jasmine doesn't mind me coming up here, she knows about it and doesn't think it's a danger."

"You never know, an attack might not come from an outsider, it's happened before. You should be careful who you trust." They both knew Alek was referring to Zane, who had been their friend, and Jasmine's boyfriend before he had been Valentina's killer.

"Something tells me _you_ won't let anything like that happen again."

"Depends which part you mean by "that". If you mean letting you trust there's nothing I can do about that, that comes from you, I can only advise you to be careful. If you mean letting someone get the better of me and that person hurting people I care about you would be right. _That_ won't happen again." Alek said, stepping away from Chloe and scuffing his feet around the ground, he picked up a small piece of broken brick and lobbed it off the roof. The two of them watched it sail through the air and land somewhere on the other side of the school's football field.

Sitting back down on the edge of the table Chloe quietly said "I know you think I trust to easily and I'm not cautious enough. You on the other hand are the polar opposite of that, you trust almost no one, maybe you need to ease up a bit on that. Try letting people in. If you let people in they'll show you their true colours, if you always put a wall up so will they, they won't learn about you but vice versa, you won't learn as much about them. You need to trust people to help you when you need it."

"I trust Jasmine, I trust Markus and I do trust you."

"What about Levi, and Felicia? And what about Amy and Paul? I think they have proved their worth and trustability plenty of times."

Alek remained silent, scowling.

"I know you trust Levi and Felicia, ok. But please try to have some faith in Amy and Paul, They mightn't be Mai, but that doesn't make them useless or bad. They've been my best friends since kinder remember. Now you and I are talking again I don't want you to go back to acting like you don't want them around and being all tense when they are, like you used to."

Alek continued to scowl. Then he finally spoke up "I know they are trustworthy. I really do. But they are also both kind of annoyingly perceptive."

"And that makes you... uncomfortable?" Chloe said trying to hide the laughter in her voice, there was suddenly a faint blush to Alek's cheeks.

Looking across the roof Chloe noticed for the first time that the roof door was open. That explained why she hadn't heard Alek coming. "How'd you get that door open?" she asked, "It's been locked for weeks."

"I picked it." Alek replied, unabashed, a slight smirk creeping back onto his face.

Below them the bell rang signalling the end of class. They could hear the sounds of the corridors filling with students as morning break started. A couple of minutes later Jasmine emerged onto the roof followed close behind by Amy and Paul. The three newcomers were quick to seat themselves on various pieces of furniture near the table Chloe and now Alek were sitting on.

"How did you know I was here?" Chloe asked.

"I wouldn't be doing my job properly if I didn't always know where you were Chloe." Responded Jasmine.

"And we just followed her." Said Paul, pointing at Jasmine. "This place is so cool. How have I never been up here before? It's like a furniture graveyard" he added looking around the roof.

"Because it's normally locked because students aren't supposed to be up here." Alek remarked acerbically. Chloe whacked him in the arm and glared at him at the sharpness of his tone. "What was that for?" He said seeming puzzled.

"You know exactly what."

Watching their interaction Paul looked confusedly from Chloe to Alek, Jasmine looked strangely worried and Amy kept her head down and smiled to herself. For several minutes no one spoke, the silence growing heavier and heavier. No one quite sure how to react to the sudden renewed camaraderie between Chloe and Alek.

Just when the silence was becoming unbearable and Chloe was on the verge of doing who knows what – she certainly didn't – just anything to break it Alek got up. "Well this has been a fascinating conversation, but I think I'll head off and do some of that thing that they call studying since I'm pretty sure I have a pop quiz fourth period. I'll see you later. After history right? For training?" This last part aimed at Chloe. She nodded ascent and as he walked behind her around the table she shivered slightly as she felt his fingers brush lightly across her lower back.


	5. Chapter 5

**So I know it's been a while. I was lacking in inspiration for how to start taking the story in the direction I want it to go. But I think I've got it on its way, so hopefully I'll have some more relatively soon.**

**Please read and review, I hope you enjoy it.**

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><p>Alec had kept the afternoon's training session fairly basic. Jasmine had decided to make her excuses and left them to train on their own. It had been a while since Alec had actually trained with another person although he would never admit it to Chloe. Mostly he trained in the small gym at his and Jasmine's place. Today without Jasmine's guidance Alec had felt a little at a loss for what he should do. So they started with yoga to warm up, that was fairly simple, he couldn't mess that up he thought. Then they ran. They ran for miles.<p>

While it was still light they ran through the parks like ordinary joggers, Chloe easily keeping up with his pace. When the sun went down they headed for the rooftops. Alec had suspected in the park that Chloe was holding back and when they got away from any watching eyes she really let go. She could tear across the rooftops, dodging obstacles and jumping the gaps like it was nothing. It didn't take long for it to become more of an effort for Alec to keep up with Chloe. She had definitely gotten faster in the last couple of months.

He quickly lost track of how far they had run in his efforts not to fall too far behind. The look on Chloe's face as they ran was all concentration and determination. They barely spoke and when they did it was mainly about how much they had done and how much more they should do. He could tell this was Chloe's thinking time. Running had become instinct to her, he could see that without the stress of being chased it calmed her, gave her mind time to relax.

It was after nine o'clock when they got back to Chloe's place. Alec walked her to the door.

"That was...nice." Chloe said hesitantly.

"You certainly like to run." Alec responded trying to hide the how thoroughly she had worn him out.

"I do." Chloe smiled slightly, "Well then, I'll see you tomorrow I suppose," giving him a quick hug goodbye.

"I'm on duty tonight as well; Jas is still busy with Markus. I'm just going to go home and shower and change. Then I'll be back."

"Ok then, see you when I see you I guess."

With that Chloe went inside and Alec turned back down the street homeward. Alec had no idea how he would manage to stay awake long enough to get back to Chloe's, let alone stay awake for his shift. But the run had been good, he thought. It was progress.

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><p>Chloe carefully shut the door, hoping to sneak up to her room before her mum realised she was home. She was thoroughly beat. She hadn't run like that in ages. It had felt good.<p>

At the bottom of the stairs her mum appeared, preventing any hope of quickly escaping to bed. "Was that Alec you were just with?" Meredith asked, Chloe nodded ascent, "I haven't seen him in a while. Where have you two been out to on a school night?"

"Ermm... We weren't out, Jasmine and I went for a jog, and he offered to walk me home. Since I didn't drive today." Chloe lied. For some reason she wasn't ready for her mum to know her and Alec were friends again, the lies came so easily these days, and Meredith seemed to believe them.

"You've been a really good friend to Jasmine since her mum died. I'm really proud of you for that you know." Chloe felt kind of guilty at that, in spite of all the lies and how little Meredith knew she still loved Chloe unconditionally and was always proud of her. She'd be terrified if she knew the truth Chloe thought. "You look pretty tired, it must've been a decent jog. I left you some dinner, how about you eat that and then head for bed kiddo."

"Thanks mum" said Chloe, hugging her on the way past to the kitchen.

It didn't take long for Chloe to heat up and scarf down the meatloaf and vegetables Meredith had left for her. Once she had trudged her way upstairs she had a brief shower before crashing into bed. She was asleep in seconds.

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><p>Another night, another nightmare. Alec could hear Chloe tossing on turning in her bed below as he sat on her roof. It was a crisp clear night, he was glad, the cool air was helping him stay awake.<p>

He wasn't sure if he should wake her or not. He hated to hear her, he always knew when she was having a nightmare, he could hear her toss and turn, he could hear her breathing heavily as if she was running, he could hear her crying. There was a difference between her crying while she was still asleep and when she had woken up, her breathing was different.

At the moment she was only at the tossing and turning stage of the dream.

All of a sudden Alec jerked forward, nearly slipping off his perch on the roof. He'd nearly dozed off. Again. It was the third time since he'd gotten there. He stood up, lightly pacing up and down the roof in an effort to stay awake.

From below him he suddenly heard Chloe speak "Where are you Alec?" It was barely a whisper, but he froze, listening. He could hear her breathing, it was heavy, but she was still asleep, she must be at the running part of the dream. But he had never heard her speak before, all she had ever done was cry.

Alec crept down from the roof, perching himself on her window sill. Chloe was lying facing the window, the blankets half falling off her bed, her underneath hand was tightly gripping her pillow, her other arm was reaching straight out off the edge of the bed as if to either grab for something or to defend herself. But her eyes were still shut tight. As Alec sat on the window sill the light outside caught her face and a tear glistened as it rolled across the bridge of her nose. He couldn't stand it any longer.

Silently Alec crept into the room and crouched down next to the bed. He carefully brushed away the tear from her cheek and gently stroked her hair to wake her. Chloe woke with a start, looking frightened for a moment until her eyes focused on the face in front of her.

"I thought you might be tired of watching reruns," Alec whispered half jokingly.

"You stoped it, before they caught up." Chloe mumbled, still partially asleep, a slight smile on her face.

Absentmindedly she griped at his t-shirt with her outstretched hand, she hadn't even noticed what she was doing. Alec did though; he figured that was a sign that some part of her didn't want him to leave. So he carefully loosened her grip on his shirt and stood up to take off his jacket and shoes. Gently Alec shifted Chloe over a bit in the bed and climbed in, pulling the bedding off the floor and over both of them as he did. As soon as he had lain down Chloe curled into him.

"Thank you." She whispered before going back to sleep. It wasn't long before Alec drifted off too.


	6. Chapter 6

It was just before seven in the morning when Alec got home. When he crept in the morning sunlight was streaming through the apartments big windows. He paused in the doorway listening, he couldn't hear Jasmine so she must still be asleep so he could quickly dash to his room and pretend he'd been there the whole time. He had nearly crossed the room when he froze sitting in the armchair nearest the window dozing in the sunlight was Jasmine. Glancing up the hall he could see his bedroom door was open. How had he not noticed her sitting there?

The game was up. There was no point in pretending when Jasmine knew he'd been out all night. Alec knew she wouldn't be happy about it. He scuffed his foot on the floor making a slight noise and Jasmine sat up straight and alert.

"I suppose there's no point in asking where you've been, it's not hard to guess." Jasmine didn't know how much like her mother she was, and that disapproving look on her face was the same one Alec had often seen Valentina turn on Jasmine.

"If you know where I was then why bother waiting for me?" Alec was instantly on the defensive.

"Because we need to talk about this," Jasmine said standing up her arms crossed. "That's the third night in a row you haven't come home."

"So?"

"So. You need to take a step back. I'm happy for you and Chloe, that you two are friends again, but you're jumping into it a bit quickly don't you think? Remember how it ended last time Alec?"

"What do you mean 'jumping into it"? We haven't jumped into anything. We're friends."

"You don't talk to her for weeks then suddenly you've slept with her three nights in a row." Alec's face was starting to get red, anger starting to rise, Jasmine stayed calm and solid. "I love Chloe, she's a great friend, but I don't think you two are good for each other. You both take everything so deeply to heart and you, when you get hurt you have the tendency to lash out, harshly. You need to take it easy, take it slowly, or you're just going get hurt again."

"Christ Jasmine! We aren't having sex! And even if we were it's none of your business, you're not my mother!" Alec was barely not shouting at her

"No I'm not, but I am your friend and I'm the leader of your pride."

"Yeah and as you said, you're Chloe's friend. You know what she's going through. You've been doing night guard as well, so you have to have heard her nightmares! You know she has the same nightmares every night don't you?! And what've you done to help her? I'm just trying to be a friend to her."

"What've I done to help her?!" Jasmine's calm suddenly broke, tears welling up in her eyes "I've been doing my best, for her and for everyone. You think I've had it easy lately?! I'm trying ok! I'm nowhere near good enough to do this to deal with all of this like Mum did! I don't think I'm the right person to be helping Chloe deal when I can barely deal myself. And you haven't been making anything any easier moping around avoiding any occasion where Chloe is present. Then all of a sudden you are glued to her side again. It worries me."

"Well there's no need for you to concern yourself, there's nothing going on that is any of your business."

"Then what have you been doing there all night for the past three nights?"

"Helping her cope! Being someone for her to talk to, then sleeping in her armchair!" Alec's voice rose in anger, something made him lie about where in Chloe's room he had been sleeping, "So nothing that is any of your business!"

At that moment a bleary eyed, rumple haired Markus walked into the room. Alec and Jasmine both went silent watching him cross the room to the kitchen. He didn't look at either of them as he went, he got a tub of fruit and the carton of milk out of the fridge, turned around and put them on the bench then looked up at the two angry and now slightly guilty looking teenagers.

"Do I need to ask what's going on here? Do you need a referee? Or are you done and ready to have some breakfast?" Markus asked. He didn't sound even slightly angry, he sounded like his normal friendly self, but he gave off an air of authority. If they didn't stop their argument, he would.

Alec turned to leave the room. "Where are you going?" Markus asked, still calm. "I said it was time for breakfast." A steely edge entered his voice.

Alec turned back around, followed Jasmine to the table and sat down. "Cereal ok?" Markus asked getting out the box, bowels and spoons and carrying it all to the table. He sat down opposite Alec and Jasmine. They ate in silence, Jasmine looked embarrassed, Alec looked angry, and Markus looked dangerously calm.

"I hope you're going to straighten that look on your face before you leave." Markus said staring at Alec. "You won't be doing guard duty tonight Alec, and I'm going to get Levi to take Chloe's training session this afternoon."

"What?! What for?! We work going to work on her swimming this afternoon." Alec's anger rose again.

"Because Jasmine said you need to take a break from Chloe, and as she is your leader you need to learn to listen to her. You seem to see me as the leader, you respect what I say, but I'm not in charge, I'm just here to be Jasmine's advisor and to ensure that social services doesn't interfere. You need to stop seeing Jasmine as your sister and start to see her as the pride leader. If the rest of the pride sees that you don't respect her, when you are the closest member of the pride to her, they won't respect her. This is a difficult time for the Mai, particularly for our pride, people need to know they can trust their leader. And as Jasmine is leader and you are her closest thing to family then you should eventually become her second in charge. But if that's going to happen you need to grow up, be more respectful and take some responsibility."

As Markus spoke Alec gradually simmered down, the angry flush going out of his face. When Markus finished he looked slightly ashamed. "The both of you have the makings of a great leadership team together, you just need to learn to listen to each other. You shouldn't be jumping to conclusions Jasmine, and ambushing him first thing in the morning isn't best way to deal with the problem." Jasmine twitched slightly when he addressed her, she hadn't expected to be getting in trouble too. "In the future maybe sitting down together to discuss any problems might be a better option than having a row first thing in the morning. Alec I agree with Jasmine that you need to take a break from Chloe. I know you are her friend and you want to help her and look after her, but while you are spending all your time looking after her, you aren't looking after yourself. You aren't on top of your game, and you can't protect Chloe to the best of your abilities when you are overtired. I need you at your best, Jasmine needs you at your best, and Chloe needs you at your best. Understood?" pausing and looking them both in the eye, "both of you?"

"Understood Markus" responded Jasmine.

"Yes Markus" said Alec.

"Good." Said Markus, cheering up. "So, whoever wants a ride to school be ready in three quarters of an hour."

Alec turned and trudged off to his room to get ready for school.

"Thank you. For supporting me…" Jasmine said quietly to Markus as she turned to leave.

"It's what I'm here to do."


End file.
